Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Many in the GW fan world have already received their hard copy of the season ticket brochure. As a whole, it's clear that the basketball program is trying to pro-actively court fans following the last two disappointing seasons. For that, major kudos. Here are some of the views from the community at gwhoops.com.

Friday, September 18, 2009

This is pretty cool -- some GW women's basketball players are blogging on the GWSports.com site.

So far there's only been two posts, but I really do think GW is doing a good job with publicity and such lately -- blogs, Twitter and Facebook, getting the schedule out, articles about recruits, letters to fans, and so on. Really glad to see it.

Friday, September 11, 2009

College Chalk Talk, a good A-10 blog, has a list of 10 sophomores to watch, and GW's Tony Taylor makes the list. Here's what they have to say:

Tony Taylor (GW): Taylor returns for his second season in Foggy Bottom, this time as a ‘veteran’ presence on a team that will welcome six freshman to the mix. Taylor scored 6.6 points, grabbed two boards and dished out 2.8 assists per contest last year as a frosh. With the graduation of Rob Diggs, the guard will be asked to score more, while also being charged with creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Last season Taylor shot just 32% from the floor, a stat which he must improve. And with the Colonials lacking an inside presence open jumpers will be tough to come by, so he’ll need to do it the old fashioned way - via the drive. Last season, he reached the stripe 89 times. Look for that number to increase considerably as a comfortable Taylor truly takes the reins this season.

I hope they're right. Tony had moments of strong play with other times where he kind of disappeared. Of course, being a freshman point guard is never easy, so I look forward to seeing how he does this year.

Monday, September 7, 2009

According to the GWSports.com, the 2010 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship will be held March 5-8 at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Prince Georges County, Maryland.

The Show Place Arena features stadium-style seating for over 4,500 fans and is a facility of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Department of Parks and Recreation/Prince George's County, Md.

You can have a virtual tour of the arena here. The arena hosts quite a few equestrian events, having indoor and outdoor stables, it also hosts rodeos, concerts, wrestling (the fake kind, not the real kind), as well as boxing events.

The first round of the A-10 Championship is scheduled to tip off on Friday, March 5, with the top four teams earning a bye. Quarterfinal play will continue on Saturday, March 6, with the Semifinal round on Sunday, March 7. The Championship game will be held on Monday, March 8, and televised live on ESPN2 at 5:00 pm. This is the first time in the 28-year history of the Championship that the tournament will be held at a neutral site, though it’s just 17 miles away from GW.

Could this be the toes in the water for the A-10 to have new venues? Venues that are in a “neutral” territory? Could the next move be to Newport News or Norfolk Virginia, where the A-10 will be headquartered?

Friday, September 4, 2009

According to ESPN Insider, Johnson has very explosive leaping ability and good length. Johnson uses his quickness to drive past opposing defenders on his way to the rim. He also uses his leaping ability when he gets into the mid-range area of the floor by leaping high enough on his pull-up jumper to see over the out-stretched arms of perimeter defenders for shots. Johnson really excels as an on-ball defender, using his length and quick feet to hound opposing ball-handlers into frustration and fatigue, which ultimately leads to turnovers. He plays with great passion and energy and cheers on his teammates very well.

The bad: He will also hit the 3-point shot, though he needs to improve his consistency from 3-point territory.

To me this is the first recruit who fits in well with Karl Hobbs. He sounds to me, dare I say it, like another JR.

If you check out his Lee Academy year, you can see that he seems to always be part of the game, and perhaps as a good sign, he played with an international group of players. He was considered a leader of the team, and you put everything together, and I think that this might be the diamond in the group of recruits.